Measuring glycated hemoglobin provides an average blood glucose level for the past 2 to 3 months. This test provides a much reliable status of the patient's condition rather than the conventional blood glucose tests. With the advent of HbA1c testing for diagnosis of diabetes, the overall diabetes diagnosis market is expected to undergo impressive growth in the future. In addition, the demand for such devices is bound to increase rapidly with rising awareness about diabetes prevention and management. The rising global incidence rate of diabetes and aging of population are the other major factors contributing to the growth of this market.

Amongst the two end-uses, the global hemoglobin A1ctestingdevices market was dominated by laboratory testing devices with a market share of approximately 66.2% in 2012,on account of high presence of these devices in the developed markets which formed the major revenue base for the global market players. Increase in awareness about HbA1c testing will lead to growth in preference and prescription by physicians and will thereby increase the demand for such testing devices. However, the global market for point-of-care testing devices will be the faster growing segments against laboratory testing. Factors such as growth in home healthcare market, rising demand for rapid and bed-side testing devices and growing need for early diagnosis and efficient disease management will contribute to the growth of this market segment during the forecast period.

The global hemoglobin A1ctestingdevices market by technology was dominated by ion-exchange HPLC testing technology segment in 2012, on account of its higher accuracy. Moreover, being the first technology utilized for testing glycated hemoglobin, it is considered to be the standard technology for HbA1c testing. In addition, it is used in conjunction with other technologies to provide faster and more accurate results. However, the boronate affinity chromatography technology market will record the highest growth due to its highest accuracy among all techniques and quick results. This technology is observed to show no effect of any of the hemoglobin variants i.e. it has no interference in test results from hemoglobin variants. It is expected that during the forecast period 2013 - 2019, the global boronate affinity chromatography technology market will grow at a CAGR of 11.9%.

North America dominated the hemoglobin A1ctestingdevices market in 2012 and is expected to maintain its lead position in the global market till 2019. However, the Asia-Pacific market is estimated to grow at a higher CAGR of 12.2% from 2013 to 2019 due to increasing awareness about accuracy and efficacy of hemoglobin A1ctesting, which will drive the demand for HbA1c testing devices. India and China are the leading countries in terms of diabetic population, and the Asia-Pacific region shows a rapidly increasing incidence rate for diabetes which will ensure a steady demand for a reliable and effective HbA1c testing method. Some of the key players in the global hemoglobin A1ctestingdevices market include Abbott Laboratories, Alere, Inc., Arkray, Inc., Danaher Corporation, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., A. Menarini Diagnostics, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. and Siemens Healthcare.

The global hemoglobin A1ctesting devices market is categorized into the following segments: